AKRON, Ohio – Simply put, the Binghamton women's basketball team refuses to quit.
Down by 14 points in the first half, trailing by six points with 13 seconds left in regulation and behind by five points in overtime, the Bearcats (3-2) staged multiple rallies to shock host Akron (0-5) 95-94 in double overtime in a non-conference women's basketball game on Thursday evening at James A Rhodes Arena. The dramatic victory came during just the sixth double-overtime game in Binghamton program history and marked its fourth-largest comeback ever.
Senior guard Bella Pucci - whose three-point buzzer beater forced the initial overtime period - poured in a game-high and career-best 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. It marked the highest scoring total by a Binghamton player since Ella Wanzer finished with 36 points at Loyola (Md.) on Nov. 12, 2023.
Junior forward Kendall Bennett finished with a career-high 19 points and a season-best 14 rebounds. She was 6-of-9 from the field, 7-for-10 from the free throw line and posted her second double-double of the season.
In the end, however, it was a total team effort that produced the stirring win for the Bearcats. Six of their 11 players who got in the game fouled out but several others who were still on the court made the clutch plays when it mattered.
"This win is huge for us," head coach Mary Grimes said. "To play a tough team like Akron on their home court and have them give us everything they had and then to come out on top was great. It took every player on our team to get the win tonight."
The host Zips controlled the first half of play and were up by as much as 38-24 with 45 seconds left before the break. The Bearcats, however, got five straight points by Bennett to trim the deficit to 38-29 at the half.
In the second half, the Bearcats kept chipping away at the deficit and were able to finally deadlock the score at 60-60 on a three pointer by junior guard Leah Middleton with 3:41 left in regulation. With 1:59 left to go, Middletown tied the game again at 63-63 on her second straight shot from beyond the arc.
From there, Akron appeared to ice the game with a 12-6 run to go up 75-69 with 13 seconds left in the fourth period. Pucci, however, drained a three pointer with eight seconds remaining to trim the Zips' lead in half. Akron then missed a pair of free throws with four seconds left on the clock and Pucci stormed up court and swished her buzzer-beating three-point shot from well beyond the arc to force overtime.
Akron led for most of the first overtime period but senior guard Meghan Casey gave the Bearcats their first lead of the night at 83-82 with 53 seconds left to go. Corinne Redd's three pointer with 22 seconds remaining gave Akron the lead back at 85-83. Down to their last possession, Binghamton forced double overtime when junior guard Yanniah Boyd made a putback shot with one second to go.
The story was the same at the start of the second double overtime period. Akron led by as much as 90-85 with 3:55 left on the clock. This time, however, the Bearcats didn't tie the game, they won it. Pucci sank three free throws with 49 seconds left to go, pulling Binghamton to within 94-93. The Bearcats then got a key defensive stop and Pucci scored the eventual game-winning basket with only five seconds left.
"It took the entire team to win tonight," Pucci said. "But we all had each other's back when things got tough and we had a lot of players fouling out. We work on tough shots in practice all the time and (Coach Grimes) has a lot of trust in our shooters. So we knew we just had to shoot it when it counted."
The 189 total points represents the highest combined total score in Binghamton program history. The previous mark of 179 points was set during Binghamton's 93-86 overtime win over Canisius back on Nov. 26, 2005.
Middleton finished with 15 points while Casey scored all nine of her points after halftime, dished out three assists and recorded three steals. Freshman Carletta Bennett chipped in eight points while Boyd added six points and seven rebounds.
Akron, meanwhile, finished with four players in double figures, led by Ni'Rah Clark with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Shaena Brew added 14 points while Natalie Johnson and Keiryn McGuff each posted 13 points.
Binghamton shot just 39.5 percent for the game (32-of-81) but made nine three-point field goals and went 22-of-28 from the free throw line (78.5 percent). The Bearcats also held a 53-45 rebounding edge, marking its highest total since pulling down 57 boards against Molloy on Dec. 20, 2024.
In 50 minutes of play against Akron, Binghamton held the lead for only 37 seconds. Still, the Bearcats held the lead when it counted most - when the final horn sounded.
Binghamton returns to the court on Monday at Columbia. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Binghamton's last double-overtime game was a 76-73 home loss to Hartford on Jan. 25, 2017. Its only previous double-overtime victory was a 70-65 triumph over Le Moyne back on Nov. 15, 1998 … the record for the largest comeback in Bearcat history is 20 points at UMBC on Feb. 13, 2019. They were down 30-10 before winning 58-46.
